I am a bit confused about the guidance on J1 visa carried in the ECFMG document. It states that u need to submit a letter from the Ministry of Health, that they need doctors for the particular speciality in the country, along with your the DS-2019 document.

How on earth would one get a letter of that kind from the Ministry of Health. I am an Indian IMG. Can any Indian colleague please let me know how to go about it, knowing well the political scene back home !

As the Ministry letter sounds to be a very important one, does anyone lose a residency, because they did'nt get the letter to process the visa (all efforts would then go waste).